Guelph business owners charged with arson

GUELPH – Part-owners of a Guelph business destroyed by fire late last year have been charged with arson and attempted fraud.

Shortly after 8pm on Dec. 30, emergency services were called to a fire at a business on Woolwich Street near Woodlawn Road East. The Guelph Fire Department extinguished the blaze, which caused approximately $450,000 in damage. “Investigation revealed the owners of the business had nearly doubled the value of their content insurance approximately three weeks before the fire,” Guelph Police stated in a press release.

“Following a lengthy investigation by investigators for the Guelph Fire Department, Guelph Police Service and an engineering firm hired by the insurance company, two Mississauga men, aged 44 and 48, were arrested and  charged with arson and attempted fraud over $5,000. They are to appear in Guelph court on June 7. (Guelph Police do not provide the names of those charged).